NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - CHATTANOOGA VS VIRGINIA TECH

March 16, 2023

Shawn Poppie

Cassell Coliseum

Chattanooga Mocs

Media Conference

Q. Welcome back. What's it been like for you to be back the last couple days?

SHAWN POPPIE: I will tell you what, it was an interesting ride in. My seven year old was able to make the trip with us. He's pointing out to everybody that's where I went to school. This is the exit we usually take.

Going into the practice facility yesterday was a little different, wearing different colors. And to get up there -- and I had a chance to see Coach Brooks and the staff yesterday before practice. So definitely a lot surreal feeling coming back, but excited to be here.

Q. You have a tall task tomorrow. What have you kind of gathered this week about what you need to do to hang with the Hokies and make this a competitive game?

SHAWN POPPIE: I tell you what, this past season, I have watched from afar as a fan. Obviously being here for six years and getting to know the kids and being so close to Coach Brooks and the staff, I have been a fan all year.

When you are a fan, you are cheering them off on. Georgia throw it to Liz. Liz throw it back to Cayla. This last week when you turn into a scout base and how are we going to stop them, you realize how darn good they are. We probably took it for granted at times when I was here.

They're a really good basketball team, obviously coached phenomenally well and great people. We have our hands full. We know that. It's funny, I have heard it all week, you should know how to guard them. Well, I may know how to guard them. It does not mean we can guard them.

We are going to give it our best shot. We are excited for the opportunity to be here and to share a court and the experience here in Blacksburg with everyone.

Q. Coach Poppie, welcome back, sir.

SHAWN POPPIE: Good to see you.

Q. I have to ask you this, what's the biggest piece of ^ advice ^ vice or something that

Coach Brooks gave to you before taking the Chattanooga job?

SHAWN POPPIE: Well, that's hard to pick one. I owe that man so much. Not only to help me as a basketball coach, but how to manage this thing as a husband and father. I'm not sure I could pick one thing.

I think the one thing I probably took the most was relationships and how to build a culture. I could go on and on with how he does his daily building people up and those kind of things. It all starts with the relationships and being genuine.

That's how he built this here, and that's how we are trying to build it in Chattanooga is relationships first. And when that happens, I think you can build people up.

And probably fast forward that to here and it is enjoy the process. We put so much into this. Our kids are deservingly so to be here. We are going to enjoy it while we give it our best shot.

Q. D'asia Gregg said you helped recruit her to Virginia Tech, and you took the job at Chattanooga. And then she said last night she was one of the few people who got to see you. Can you walk me through seeing one of the players you recruited have so much success here and the moment you had last night?

SHAWN POPPIE: I'm so proud of her. She's a phenomenal basketball player, but to where she started way back in the day, you know, in Wilson, South Carolina, I actually was there in high school doing a home visit with her in her high school gym and mom and grandma. She chose Georgia Tech initially.

Obviously went the JUCO route and we were fortunate to get her the second time around up here. Her maturity, she has just ^ groan ^ grown up as a woman. It's been fun watching her not only doing that, but also become a big, big piece of what they do.

She was the first one I saw as we got off the bus yesterday and immediately was in a hug. You know, and so super proud of who she has become. And like I said, I have been a big fan all year. I won't be a fan for 40 minutes on Friday, but super proud of D'asia Gregg. We call her Dimo. I am stuttering a little bit because that's what I want to say up here.

Q. Two part question, first of all, you know, being in Chattanooga now, what do you remember most -- you and your family remember most and cherish most about your time in Blacksburg and obviously you are back at the different stage?

You know how rowdy this crowd could be. It's going to be a sold out Cassell Coliseum. How excited are you, nervous are you? What has this week of preparation been like for you guys?

SHAWN POPPIE: In my opinion, Blacksburg is a special place for a lot of reasons. It starts with the people. We have had some tremendous relationships whether it be in the administration here, whether it be other sporting teams here, coaches. The amount of texts I got to see if they could pick Kai up. I have someone actually coming in practice to pick him up to hang out with his buddies here in an hour.

That's what I remember the most is the people. We had an unbelievable experience here. You know, for me, yeah, we are excited. It's sold out. That's part of -- I think what makes women's basketball so special, you get into this tournament and your first two rounds are a host site with Virginia Tech obviously hosting here.

I think for me it is more full circle. I will never forget we walked right down the tunnel. Our first game UNC Nashville 7 years ago. We sat on the sidelines. Coach Brooks looked at me and said we are going to build this.

I don't know what the attendance sheet says, but if felt like 300 people. By golly, he has built it. We get to play here on Friday. I get to be part of the game on the other side line. Seeing this thing with over 9,000 people rocking will be a lot of fun. It also showed I feel like I did have a little bit of part in that.

Obviously Coach Brooks has done all of work, but I was here for six years and got to help build it with him. So although I'm not going to be a fan of listening to the heckling coming for the Mocs, I will definitely be excited to be a part of it.

Q. I want to ask you about the Mocs, your three student athletes that were up here, Addie, Abbey and Yazz. They talked about the roller coaster of the season. They talked about adversity. They talked about tough losses like to Western Carolina to close out January and then losing two of three going into the southern conference tournament.

What do you think your group learned from that adversity that they talk about and they seem to built off of?

SHAWN POPPIE: I think it sounds very cliche, but we learn from every experience all year long. I was fortunate enough to inherent an unbelievable group of kids that bought into every word we sold since we got the job. Addie Grace being a returner. Abbey Cornelius being a Covid fifth year who has been through it all at Chattanooga. We were fortunate to add Yazz in the transfer portal once I got the job.

That group has good situations, bad situations, been able to look at us as a staff. And we can look in the mirror and what do we have to fix. It never was deflating, defeated. It was always how to do we grow. And yes, it was roller coasters, ebbs and flows.

I feel like each experience though really prepared us as we ran into Asheville to be fortunate enough to be able to win the tournament. I'm not sure we have had enough experience to play in front of 9500 on Friday, but I do think going through that tournament and playing three games in four days and going against a team that has beaten us twice, very easily could have folded going into that game. It was 17-9 early in that game.

I have a tough group that can really rally around each other. We are going to need to again on Friday.

Q. Yazz was up here saying that they are bigger than us, quicker than us.

Given that, I guess what has to unfold here on Friday in order for it to be a decent game?

SHAWN POPPIE: You know, naturally we are a 16 seed. They're a one seed for a reason. With that said, we deserve to be out on the court on Friday. I don't think we can play traditional. I don't think if we go and be who we have been every game all year probably isn't the best recipe to try to beat. That means you are trying to have better players than they have.

We are okay to talk about it. We have talked about it all year. We are not going out talent everybody. We are going to try to out together. This group has been very, very smart when it comes to basketball schematically. We have been able to guard people differently.

Best example I could give you is look at Wofford when we played them in the championship game, we put a scout in on one day prep. I thought we executed it very, very close to perfect. And we are going to have to do that for Friday, you know, to give them different looks. But with that said, we know they are a real good basketball team. We have to take advantage of every opportunity that is given to us on the offensive. We are going to have to make some shouts. Probably, you know, try to change the base of the pace of the game at times. And then give them different looks defensively, but the bad news for us is they have seen just about everything. They are old veteran. They have seen doubles and triple teams with Liz. They have seen trapping with Georgia. They have seen try to take the shooters away. They have seen a little bit of everything.

That is why I think we have to give them different looks. Again when things get tough, we are going to have to come together.

Q. Almost a year done with your first season, what are you most proud of with what you and this group have done, like he mentioned fighting through the adversity, getting to this point, winning a southern conference championship? What do you like about what your group have been able to accomplish this year?

SHAWN POPPIE: We started back in June of really identifying our culture. We really focused on that. We didn't talk much about how many games we are going to win, how much improvement, you know, are we going to have from a seven-win team the year before. It was culture, culture, culture. How do we do things? How do we work? How do we prepare? How do we go to the classroom? How do we go out in the community?

What happened was they became a lot closer than I thought a lot quicker. And so you know as we kind of got into the year and we played some games early, we looked at each other and thought, you know what, we might be better than most people think. As the league play got closer and closer, we can go win this thing and put an eye on the prize for that more internally than externally.

You know, I thought for us was just show the world we are going to be together. We are going to compete and give our university something to be proud of. I'm most excited that they get what they deserve. Abbey Cornelius is in her fifth year. She wants to leave this place better than she got it. When she arrived, they were really darn good. And it hasn't went well for her as a team, although she had a really good career personally.

To put that thing full circle for her, really it speaks volumes of who she is as a kid and as a player. She's taken a back seat a little bit statistically, but we get to go dancing and play here Friday. That's the most important thing for her.